Spend some time alone with the LORD; maybe go for a walk on the beach. Talk with your Maker, your Potter, your Father.

Talk with Him about your body, your temple. Ask Him to help you see yourself as He sees you. (How have you quarreled with your maker; asking, “Why have you made me thus?”)

Dedicate your vessel to the LORD how ever you feel lead.

Ask Him to clean you on the inside and outside.

Then head back to your room. You’ll find special paper to write a message for your treasure hunt bottle. (look between the mattresses on your bed) Write whatever you want to Him: a prayer, a list, whatever.

After you finish this “message in a bottle”, maybe before you write your letter, consider washing your hands, soaking our feet, taking a hot shower,… some symbolic way to be “baptized”, “cleansed”, “washed”.

Confess your sins and imagine the Lord Jesus washing your feet and washing all your sins away down the drain. You are a new creature in Christ.

As you renew your dedication to Him, let Him “renew” YOU and fill you with new joy and abundant life.

Message #12

As I read chapter 11, I can’t help feeling compassion and empathy for Paul, not just for the long list of hardships he suffered, but I wonder if he felt frustrated, lonely, or misunderstood.

He went through so much, yet spoke about his pain so little. But, I wonder if there was a greater pain he felt in trying to follow his calling that was so frequently dismissed, undermined, and misrepresented by others.

see 2 Cor. 12:11

1 Tim. 1:15

1 Cor. 4:3-5

1 Cor. 3:3-9

1 Thes. 2:1-6

Phil. 1:17-20

Through all his hardships, Paul kept his eyes on the goal, and that focus kept his attitude afloat.

Choose two pieces of sand fencing; then tie them together with a bit of string to make a cross. (or you can look for your own broken pieces of fencing along the beach)

Then read this…

Heb. 12:1-3

1 Cor. 1:18

1 Cor. 2:2

(from the words of Christ) Mt. 16:24

James 1:12

Is. 50:6-7

Selah – stop and listen

What hardship, stormy sea, or suffering are you facing?

What cross have you been asked to bear?

Do not be like a piece of drift wood (carried about by your emotions and circumstances); fix your eyes on the “lighthouse” of the cross (remember you purpose and calling).

Sorry, I could not fit a small piece of driftwood in this bottle for everyone, but feel free to pick up a piece along the beach and add it to your journal with tape and string.

After thought: We are not floating around aimlessly like driftwood; we know our calling. We focus on the cross. And as we hold our ground even in an age of shifting sand, like fencing on an eroding shoreline, we are fulfilling a significant purpose that makes growth great stability possible for others.

Then in your heart, tie all these passages together with Isaiah 30:15-18

tape a feather into your journal

and write a prayer response to the LORD

When I think of feathers, I also think of dreams taking flight.

Sometimes we have “small dreams”, not because they are not bold and ambitious, but rather, they are short sighted and temporal. In contrast, God has “big dreams” for us that we sometimes dismiss because we see them through worldly eyes. His dreams are God sized! And you can be certain His dreams come true and are eternally significant. (They also are fulfilling for those deep down longings of the heart.)